


First Strike

by WinterMoonlight



Series: Spiral [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games), Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Anakin Skywalker is the Chosen One, Attempt to Avoid Spoilers in the Tags, Fusion of Star Wars Legends and Disney Canon, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Somewhat anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27170329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterMoonlight/pseuds/WinterMoonlight
Summary: A storm is gathering but, before its opening salvos can be fired upon the galaxy, the reborn Legendary Prodigal Knight and the Chosen One have several challenges to face. From the Gathering onward, Arin Kando, the reincarnation of the Prodigal Knight Revan, and Anakin Skywalker, along with the friends turned family that they find along the way, must navigate what it truly means to be a Jedi, and a human being, as time steadily marches forward to a breaking point in which the peace will shatter and darkness will descend.
Relationships: Alek | Darth Malak & Revan, Anakin Skywalker & Jax Pavan, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Spiral [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983220
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	First Strike

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars (any of it) and I am only saying this once and I will not repeat it in later chapters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anakin Skywalker, and five Initiates, attend the Gathering on Ilum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the first chapter. I really do hope that you like it, and like how I portrayed the reincarnated KOTOR characters. I just hope that I captured them well in light of the fact that they were all raised differently, and in a different era.

The meditation chamber belonging to Master Yoda, the oldest and most wise member of the Jedi Order, is large in comparison to Yoda’s small form. There are meditation daises laying scattered upon the carpeted floor while Coruscant’s brilliant sun shed its rays through the large windows that lay on the northern and western walls of the chamber.

Obi-Wan Kenobi inclines his head in greeting to the old Jedi Master as he makes his way into the chamber. “You wished to speak with me, Master Yoda?” he says as he takes a seat on one of the meditation daises across from the old master. He crosses his legs, resting his hands on them as he waits for Yoda to speak.

“Speak with you, I wish to, yes,” Yoda says as his beady eyes flutter open. He rests his hands on the gimer stick that lays across his lap. “Your training with young Skywalker, how goes it?”

“It’s going well, Master Yoda.” It’s been three years since Obi-Wan took the child that his former master Qui-Gon freed from slavery on Tatooine. During that time, the sense of obligation that had been part of the reason why Obi-Wan had decided to defy the Jedi Council to train Anakin had faded and he’s grown to actually enjoy training Anakin. The boy is a quick learner and, though he still has some failings that are there because of his upbringing, he is still making progress. And, though he will not admit it out loud, Obi-Wan is slowly coming to care for the boy.

Yoda hums, closing his eyes again. “Doing well with young Skywalker, you are, Obi-Wan,” he says. “Finally adjusting to life within the Temple, Skywalker seems to be as well.”

Obi-Wan nods. “I think that’s primarily because of Jax,” he admits. Jax Pavan, the young Initiate whom had befriended Anakin less than a month ago, is probably the only one to actually hold out a hand of friendship toward his young padawan. Sure, the other Jedi treat Anakin with the same level of kindness that is to be expected from the Jedi but they never made a point of trying to help Anakin adjust to Temple life.

“Developed, a strong friendship between those two has,” Yoda agrees. His ears flicker with amusement as he adds, “Though cause trouble for Master Ali-Alann and Master Windu, those two do as well.”

Obi-Wan resists the urge to sigh. Instead, he just rubs his temples. “They don’t due it on purpose,” he says. “And Jax keeps blaming Arin for the trouble caused for Master Ali-Alann.”

“Oh yes, know this I do.” Yoda chuckles as he taps his fingers on his gimer stick. He grows serious as he adds, “However, asked you here today to discuss Skywalker’s friendship with Pavan, I did not.”

“I figured as much. It must be important. Has something happened?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Yoda assures Obi-Wan. “Thinking long and hard I have been, about Skywalker’s training and what he has missed out on. Doing well, you are, Obi-Wan. Doubt that, you should not. However, receive the same kind of training as the other Initiates Skywalker did not, due to the circumstances.”

“I have been attempting to incorporate some of the training regimes and study material that is typically given to the Initiates when they start their training into my training,” Obi-Wan says. “However, I cannot teach Anakin nine years worth of Initiate training in only a few years.”

“This I know,” Yoda says with a nod. “As I said before, doing well you are. However, believe, I do, that go through the Initiate’s traditional rite of passage Skywalker should. Benefit him well, I believe it will.”

 _Traditional rite of passage for an Initiate?_ Obi-Wan knows in an instant what Yoda is referring to. “You speak of the Gathering?” he says. “One of the rites that a youngling must go through before they can take the Initiate Trials to be chosen to become padawans.”

“Already a padawan, young Skywalker is. A special case he is. However, benefit from this rite of passage, Skywalker will. Learn much from it, he will. However, your decision of whether he should participate in the upcoming Gathering or not, it is.”

Obi-Wan thinks about it for a long moment. There’s no denying that he can’t give Anakin the same training that the other Initiates are given because he started so late. He’s been doing his best to, at least, teach Anakin the basics of what Initiates learn and then going from there. But the Gathering is a rite of passage that is designed to allow the Initiate to confront and, hopefully, overcome their own failings or fears. And, the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that Yoda is correct.

Anakin can definitely benefit from participating in the upcoming Gathering.

“Why now, Master Yoda?” he asks. His padawan is twelve now. While, age wise, he is still a youngling, he has been a padawan for three years now. Obi-Wan wonders why Yoda hadn’t suggested that Anakin participate in one of the Gatherings earlier on in his training.

Yoda hums. “Ready he was not,” he says. “Needed some training he did. Brought to the Temple when he was too old, he had been. Catch up, he needed to. Believe I do that caught up enough he has, even if much to learn he still has.”

Obi-Wan accepts the explanation but, for some reason, he feels there’s more to it than that. “When will the next Gathering take place?” he asks instead.

“In one week,” Yoda says.

“I will inform Anakin. Who will be the guide?” As is part of tradition, a member of the Jedi Order that is ranked higher than the younglings, typically a padawan but sometimes an actual master, will guide the younglings through the Gathering along with the teacher. The teacher is usually Master Yoda though.

“Be the guide, you will this time, Obi-Wan,” Yoda says. “Believe I do that benefit from guiding your padawan along with the other younglings through the Gathering you will as well.”

Obi-Wan is a bit surprised but nods his acceptance. It’s been years since he had his own Gathering and he will admit that he is glad to be there for his padawan when he goes through that rite of passage.

“Very well, Master Yoda,” he says.

There’s a knock on the door.

“Come in, you will,” Yoda calls.

The door opens and Mace Windu makes his way into the room, an irritated tick above his right eye.

Obi-Wan lets loose a breath. “What did Anakin do this time?” he asks because it seems that Anakin is the only one who can actually cause Mace Windu’s legendary patience to be strained.

“Did I not tell you to talk with your padawan about taking apart and rebuilding the Temple droids _correctly_?” Mace says as he moves to another meditation dais and sits down on it, crossing his legs.

“I did.” Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. “Did another malfunctioning mouse droid hit you in the shin again, Master Windu?”

The irritated twitch of Mace’s eye answers that.

“I’ll go and speak with him, Master Windu,” Obi-Wan assures him.

“If you can convince him to _stop_ taking apart and rebuilding the Temple droids, that would be most helpful as well,” Mace says.

“I have,” Obi-Wan says. “But he finds fixing things, or building things, comforting and relaxing. Since I have a hard time getting him to meditate the traditional way, I find that he is capable of meditating and centering himself while he’s fixing or building things. So I allow him to do so, since it helps him. But I’ll tell him to keep to our quarters whenever he wants to fix something if that’ll help.”

“He seems more likely to listen to you then me so that’ll be fine,” Mace says.

“Go you may, Obi-Wan,” Yoda says, waving his little hand toward Obi-Wan. “Much to discuss with your padawan you have.”

Obi-Wan uncrosses his legs and rises to his feet, bowing his head politely. “Yes, Master Yoda,” he says before he turns and walks out of the meditation chamber.

**. . .**

The ventilation shafts that lace the area between floors of the Jedi Temple is like a maze of interconnecting tunnels with identical blank silver walls occasionally broken up by rectangular grates that allow the cool air to escape. Typically, the shafts are too large for anyone to crawl through but, even though he’s tall for a twelve-year-old, Anakin Skywalker is still small enough to crawl through the shafts.

As is his friend Jax.

Friend.

It’s still a bit mind-boggling to know that he actually has a friend within the Temple now. For the past three years, while Anakin has been throwing himself into training with his master and struggling to learn what he missed out on since he was brought to the Temple late, he hasn’t had any friends. While the other Jedi treat him nicely, he always gets the feeling that everyone sees him as different, as an anomaly, as someone who doesn’t belong.

Or maybe that’s just his own insecurities since he has been feeling lonely, and like he doesn’t belong, ever since he first came to the Jedi Temple and the Council told him that he would not be trained.

If his master hadn’t decided to defy the Council to train him, and if Master Qui-Gon hadn’t died, then he doesn’t know if he would have ever been trained.

As it is, he knows that some members of the Jedi Order—Master Mace Windu comes to mind—don’t seem to like him that much.

“Would you keep moving, you slow-poke?” Jax Pavan hisses from behind Anakin.

But Jax is different. Jax is the only one who actually offered his hand in friendship to Anakin less than a month ago, and he had done it for no other reason than he thought Anakin was nice.

“I’m going, I’m going,” he says, glancing over his shoulder at the smaller boy who’s watching him with amusement in his brown eyes. “You know you didn’t have to follow me into these shafts, right?”

Jax shrugs. Since he’s only ten, he’s small enough that he can do that without banging his shoulders on the shaft’s walls. “You’re my friend. And I was the one who startled that mouse droid into diverting course and hitting Master Windu’s shin. Just ‘cause you screwed up the navigational sensors doesn’t mean that I’m not somewhat at fault, though it was mostly your fault.”

Anakin rolls his eyes, a smile on his lips. “Thanks,” he says dryly.

“No problem.”

Anakin chuckles and starts crawling again. “You know if Master Ali-Alann finds out that we’re down here, you’re probably gonna get put on cleaning duty again,” he says.

“I’m pretty sure Master Ali-Alann is more preoccupied with the food fight Arin and Alek started in the Creche cafeteria earlier today.”

Anakin shakes his head. He may have never met Arin Kando and Alek Scrimigar, younglings that are the same age as him and part of the same Clan as Jax, before but he knows about them. They have a reputation. While they are at the top of their class, especially Arin whom Jax has said is like a prodigy, they are also known for being troublemakers. It’s a wonder how they are managing to hang on to their spot at the top of their class.

“How are they at the top of their class again?” he asks because he hopes that Jax will know. He knows that Jax is up there with Arin and Alek, along with two others that he’s never met before, and whom Jax doesn’t really speak about.

“Arin’s a prodigy. That pretty much explains everything for him. Alek is like me. We take our studies seriously and perform to the best of our ability.” Jax smiles. “But Master Ali-Alann seems to think that the three of us need to learn discipline. I don’t know where he gets that idea from though.”

Anakin raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t bother on reminding Jax that he’s in the ventilation shafts between the first and second level of the Jedi Temple because he had decided to take partial blame for that mouse droid slamming into Master Windu’s shin though. He knows that Jax isn’t being serious. The amusement in his eyes is a telltale giveaway.

He continues to crawl but pauses upon hearing the sound of voices above his head. He waves a hand to Jax who stops and he peers through the grate in time to see Padawan Aayla Secura standing close to the grate with her master, the Kiffar Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos, standing across from her.

“So do we have another mission, Master?” Aayla asks.

“We actually do,” says Quinlan. “But, first things first, I’ve gotta find that youngling that started that food fight that has Master Ali-Alann so upset.”

Aayla sighs, folding her arms across her chest. “Why am I not surprised that you found that funny?” she deadpans.

Quinlan shrugs, a grin on his lips. He turns his head. “Hey, Kenobi!”

Anakin tenses and Jax lets out a soft groan.

“Quinlan,” Obi-Wan’s voice deadpans. “Any particular reason why you’re just standing around the corridor in front of the Archives? Planning on taking a nap in there again?”

Quinlan shrugs. “Hey, it’s quite comfortable in there, y’know?” he says. “Nah, just about to head over to the Creche and speak with the younglings.”

“Planning on finding the youngling that started the food fight earlier?”

“Ah, you know me well, my friend.”

“Too well, it would seem.”

Quinlan just laughs and walks off, nudging Obi-Wan in the shoulder as he does.

Aayla offers a quiet apology.

Obi-Wan waves it away. “I’m more or less used to Quinlan’s eccentricities, Padawan Secura,” he says.

“I’m still getting used to them myself, Knight Kenobi,” Aayla says before she bows her head politely and jogs after Quinlan.

Obi-Wan moves down the corridor and comes to a halt by the grate, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall. “Are you going to come out of those shafts now, Padawan? Or do you want to miss dinner?” he asks.

“How’d he know?” Jax hisses.

Anakin just thuds his head against the floor in front of him. He’d forgotten about their bond. “Our bond,” he says.

“Oh...well...” Jax shrugs. “Guess we gotta face the music.”

Anakin grimaces but, reaching up, pushes the grate away and slowly pulls himself out of the shaft. He turns and holds out a hand to Jax who grasps it and pulls himself out of the shaft as well.

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow.

“It was an accident,” Anakin insists. “I swear it was just an accident! I didn’t mean to deactivate that mouse droid’s navigational sensors. I swear!”

“Calm down, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says. “I’m not mad at you. Master Windu wants me to talk with you again about taking apart and rebuilding droids correctly though.”

Anakin resists the urge to groan. It has been three years since he became Master Obi-Wan’s padawan and, even though he has come to care for his master and see him as the father figure he never had, his master’s lectures had a tendency of being really dull. It’s a wonder he hasn’t fallen asleep through one of them yet, though he has spaced out during them before.

“I’m sure that you know that lecture by heart though so I won’t,” Obi-Wan says.

_Thank the Force!_

“I heard that thought, Padawan.”

Anakin flushes. He hadn’t meant for that thought to drift along their bond. “Sorry Master,” he mumbles.

Obi-Wan just gives him an amused look before turning serious as he adds, “But there is something important that I need to discuss with you. Jax, will you please excuse us?” he says.

Jax glances at Anakin and pats him on the shoulder. “At least you aren’t getting lectured,” he says. “I’ll talk to you later. Wanna meet up in the Room of a Thousand Fountains after dinner?”

“Sure,” Anakin says with a smile.

Jax smiles back and, bowing politely to Obi-Wan, jogs off.

Obi-Wan turns and leads the way down the hallway and Anakin jogs after him.

“Am I in trouble?” he asks. He may not be getting a lecture but that doesn’t ease the worry that he is still going to be punished.

Obi-Wan glances at him. “You’re not in trouble, Anakin,” he assures him. “What I have to discuss with you has to do with your training. That’s all.”

“Oh. What’s this all about then?”

“I’ll explain when we get back to our apartment.”

Anakin frowns but nods and follows his master in silence as he thinks about what it is his master wants to discuss with him.

**. . .**

The Creche cafeteria is an absolute mess. A chaotic maelstrom of thrown foods and drinks. The floor is littered with smashed foods and puddles of juice while the smashed foods lay in splatters upon the walls and even on the ceiling. Arin Kando doesn’t know how that happened, though he’s positive that it’s all Alek’s fault, but it’s going to be difficult for that to be cleaned up. Shame that he and Alek got stuck with cleaning up duty, even though everyone had participated in the food fight.

“We were the ones that started it,” Alek reminds Arin when Arin mentions that out loud.

Arin raises a dark eyebrow at his friend. “What’s this ‘we’? You were the one who started it,” he says as he pulls the mop bucket across the floor toward the largest puddle on the ground.

“Yeah but you continued it,” Alek retorts.

“And what’s why we shouldn’t be the only ones cleaning up the mess? I wasn’t the only one that continued it. Every youngling in the cafeteria continued the food fight so they should all be responsible for cleaning up the mess. It is only fair,” Arin insists.

“Yeah, try telling that to Master Ali-Alann.”

Arin glances toward where the Jedi Master in charge of the Creche is currently talking with Master Qu Rahn, the head of the Katarn Clan, the Clan that Arin and Alek are apart of. Rahn has his arms folded across his chest, a look of disappointment in his dark eyes while Ali-Alann is just shaking his head, disappointment in his own eyes.

“Yeah, I’m not even going to try,” he says with a wince. He doesn’t like it when he disappoints the Creche Master, or the instructor in charge of his Clan. “This is your fault, you know?”

“Quit it,” Alek grumbles. “Don’t gotta make me feel even more bad than I already do. I just reacted. It was a heat of the moment response. I wasn’t expecting _everyone_ to just suddenly take part in it.”

Arin smiles at his friend. “I’m sure if we work together, we can get this done quickly,” he assures his friend.

Alek glances at him and smiles. “Yeah, true,” he says, his blue eyes glittering with determination. He starts to work and Arin watches him, his smile turning sad before he turns and starts to work on moping up the puddle of juice.

He isn’t sure how long they’re working but, as he decides to take a break, he turns to gaze at his friend. Alek is still in the midst of attempting to clean the food off the wall next to the window, his brow furrowed and a huff of irritation escaping his lips.

Arin can almost see another boy, identical in everything, standing next to Alek, following the same motions of cleaning but with a different view outside the large windows.

Instead of the towering skyscrapers of Coruscant, Arin can almost see the rolling plains of Dantooine.

Arin shakes his head and starts to work on cleaning again. _Those flashes are starting to occur more often than not, and I still don’t know why I’m having them._

“Something wrong, Arin?”

Arin shakes his head and turns to find Alek watching him with concern in his eyes, a dirty rag resting in one hand as he puts the bucket of dirty water on the ground next to him. “Oh, no, it’s nothing,” he assures his friend. He gazes around the kitchen and smiles upon noticing that they are almost done. “C’mon, let’s finish this up. Master Ali-Alann and Master Rahn should be back any minute now and I want to be done before they get here.”

His friend nods in agreement and goes back to work.

Again, he sees the image of another boy identical to Alek standing next to him. He frowns and shoves the memory away, focusing on the now.

He’ll have enough time to mull over those thoughts, those _images_ , when he goes to sleep.

It’s what usually happens anyway. It’s why he doesn’t sleep that much. His sleeps is almost always haunted by visions and images of events that he knows has never happened to him, and yet feel so real.

He and Alek manage to finish cleaning with a few minutes to spare before Master Ali-Alann and Master Rahn return to the cafeteria. They examine the cafeteria before turning their gazes to the tired but happy younglings that are standing at the heart of the clean cafeteria.

“Good work,” Ali-Alann says with an incline of his head. “I hope you took to heart the lesson that this was to teach you. I do not want a repeat of what happened earlier today. You must learn to control yourself and not react irrationally, Initiate Alek, and you must not continue the fight either, Initiate Arin.”

“Yes, Master Ali-Alann,” Arin and Alek say in unison and bow politely.

“Put the cleaning supplies away and then you can go and wash up for dinner,” says Rahn. “After that, I want to speak with the two of you.”

Arin and Alek exchange glances but they bow their heads. “Yes Master Rahn,” they say in unison before they begin to gather their cleaning supplies and start to put them away in the nearby storage closet.

After they finish putting their supplies away, and wash all the grime that had covered them, they make their way into the training room that the other younglings say Master Rahn is located in. As they walk into the training room, they quickly notice that Master Rahn is not alone. There are three others standing in front of him and Arin frowns because he recognizes them.

Jax Pavan, Bastila Shan, and Juhani Kuhn.

They are members of his Clan, yes, but the latter two are also like younger versions of two people that Arin has been seeing in his dreams as well, just like Alek. He doesn’t know why he feels like he knows those two people, or why he knew their names even before they had been introduced to the Clan.

He shakes his head. He isn’t going to think about his strange dreams, and those strange flashes that he keeps seeing. He needs to focus.

“Arin, Alek, come,” Rahn says.

Arin and Alek walk over to join the Jedi Master and incline their heads politely in greeting. “Master Rahn, you said you wanted to speak with us?” Arin says.

“Yes,” Rahn says, clasping his hands behind his back. “The five of you, along with one other, will be going on a trip in a week. I will not give you the details of the trip, as that is part of the journey, but I will tell you that this will be a rite of passage for all of you.”

“The five of us along with one other? Who’s that, Master?” Jax asks.

“You will meet him when you leave,” says Rahn. “You can spend the next week getting ready but I decided to tell you about your trip now rather than wait until the last minute. That is all.” He inclines his head and, turning on his heel, walks out of the training room.

“On a trip? Does that mean we’re leaving Coruscant?” Juhani sounds a little scared, her hands wringing nervously together.

Bastila shrugs. “I’m sure whatever this trip is about, I can handle it,” she says and then frowns, studying Arin closely.

Arin raises an eyebrow at her. Something is telling him that she wants to ask him something but she isn’t sure how to phrase the question. “Do you have something you want to ask me?” he asks.

The small ten-year-old girl tilts her head to the side in puzzlement. “I did. How’d you know?” she says.

 _“_ _Well...your face is all scrunched up like a kinrath pup._ ”

The words echo in Arin’s head, almost as if he has said those words before but he doesn’t recall from where. But, now that he thinks about it… “Well, your face is all scrunched up like a kinrath pup,” he says with a shrug.

Bastila sputters, going red. “A...A kinrath pup? It is not!” she exclaims with a stomp of her foot and a pout on her lips.

Alek snickers. “Good one, Arin,” he says, nudging Arin in the side.

“That wasn’t funny,” Bastila protests. “I was _going_ to ask you a question but now I don’t think I will.” She storms off, a huff escaping her lips.

Juhani jogs after her without a word.

Jax follows.

Alek snorts. “You chased her off,” he says. “But that was funny. C’mon, wanna go to the Room of a Thousand Fountains?”

Arin glances at his friend and smiles. His friends really likes the Room of a Thousand Fountains. “Sure,” he says and follows his friend as he turns and leads the way out of the training room.

**. . .**

The _Crucible_ rests on the landing platform outside of the Jedi Temple. Stretching just under a hundred meters in length, the _Paladin-_ class light corvette is empty save for the ancient droid that Obi-Wan knows will help the younglings with the creation of their first lightsabers after they have received their first kyber crystals on Ilum.

His padawan stands at his side, gazing at the light corvette with wide eyes. After Obi-Wan had given him the bare minimum about the Gathering, only calling it what it is and telling his padawan that it’s a rite of passage in which he will find his first kyber crystal and build his first lightsaber, Anakin had been eager to set out on the journey.

Obi-Wan had decided against teaching his padawan how to build a lightsaber in the last three years, mostly because Anakin was too young. And, now, he knows that he had made the right decision to wait. The Gathering is one of the most important rites of passages for any Initiate to go through and, even if Anakin didn’t have the same experience as the rest of the Initiates, he will, at least, have this.

Maybe it will help him to fit in a bit better with the rest of the younglings and padawans in the Order.

“When are we leaving, Master?” Anakin asks, turning excited blue eyes to Obi-Wan.

“Patience, Padawan,” Obi-Wan says, his hands clasped behind his back as he keeps his gaze fixed on the Temple in front of him. “Five more will be joining us so we are simply waiting for them.”

Anakin huffs but finally nods. He folds his arms across his chest, his backpack resting on his back.

Obi-Wan lets loose a breath and nudges his padawan through their bond. _That’s not being patient,_ he sends along the bond.

Anakin frowns but unfolds his arms. ‘ _Sorry, Master, but should we have left by now?_ ’ he sends back.

The door opens, preventing Obi-Wan from responding and he turns as five younglings walk over to join them. He recognizes Jax immediately and he only knows the names of the other four because of Master Yoda. He’s never actually met any of them personally, though he has heard that Arin Kando is a prodigy who is likely well on his way to being the first in the Katarn Clan to pass the Initiate Trials and be chosen as a padawan.

The five of them stop and the Cathar, Juhani Kuhn’s, eyes widen in utter shock and uncertainty.

“Hello,” Obi-Wan greets the five younglings with a polite incline of his head. “I am Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. The five of you are at the top of your class and so now is the time of The Gathering. For a Jedi, there is no greater challenge, or honor.”

The five younglings exchange glances with each other.

“What’s the Gathering, Knight Kenobi?” Bastila asks.

Obi-Wan smiles softly. “Bastila Shan,” he says to the gray-eyed girl and turns to the Cathar, “Juhani Kuhn.” He turns to Arin who has a thoughtful gleam in his dark brown eyes. “Arin Kando.” He turns to Alek who has curiosity in his blue eyes. “Alek Scrimigar.” He turns to Jax who is excited. “Jax Pavan. The time has come for you five, along with my padawan Anakin Skywalker, to build your own lightsabers.”

Alek cheers while Jax bounces on the balls of his feet with excitement shining in his eyes. Bastila smirks, looking confident, while Juhani still has a nervous gleam in her eyes and Arin looks mildly excited. Obi-Wan can feel his padawan’s surprise and eagerness flooding their bond.

“Be warned that this journey will not be without its risk,” Obi-Wan says. “And there are many perils that lay ahead of all of you. Our destination is a place that is one of the most sacred to the Jedi. Now, come along, younglings and Padawan. Let’s head out.”

“I have a question, Master Kenobi, if you don’t mind,” Bastila says.

Obi-Wan inclines his head. “Yes, Bastila?” he says.

“Why is he coming with us? Isn’t he already a Padawan?” She says, waving a hand toward Anakin.

A rush of irritation floods the bond.

Obi-Wan nudges Anakin sharply through the bond. _Calm yourself, Anakin. She is simply asking a legitimate question,_ he sends along the bond.

‘ _She doesn’t have to say it like I’m not supposed to be here though,_ ’ Anakin sends back, still sounding irritated though, at least, the irritation is starting to fade from his presence.

“Anakin’s circumstances are unique, Bastila,” Obi-Wan says out loud. “Due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, Anakin did not join the Jedi Order until he was nine years old. As a result, he was unable to go through the same training that you all went through. However, that does not mean that he should be exempt from this rite of passage, not when it is as sacred and important it is. That is why he is here today. He may be a Padawan but, just like you five, he is ready to face The Gathering. Now come, we have stalled for long enough. Let us get underway.”

The five younglings nod and follow Obi-Wan as he turns and leads the way up the boarding ramp and into the light corvette. Anakin gazes around, eyes wide with awe as he observes the insides of the _Crucible._

“This is so wizard,” he breathes.

Jax laughs and clasps Anakin on the shoulder, a grin stealing its way onto his lips. “You say that about every ship that you see, even if you’ve never been inside it,” he says.

“This is different. I’m actually seeing the inside of this one,” Anakin retorts, nudging his friend playfully in the side.

“Are you going to start taking holopics or something since you’re so...crazy about this ship?”

“I’m not crazy about this ship.”

“Certainly look like it.”

“Oh shut up, Jax.”

Bastila moves forward. “Would you two knock it off?” She says, planting her hands on her hips. “This is a very important rite of passage and you two bickering is not becoming of a Jedi.”

“Oh relax, Miss Uptight Princess,” Arin says with a roll of his eyes as he walks past Bastila who sputters at being called uptight. “It’s not a crime to get excited about seeing a pretty neat ship like this one.”

“We are on a very important mission. We must act befitting of a Jedi,” Bastila says firmly.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t be so stuck up,” Arin says dismissively and Anakin has to cover his mouth to keep his snickers hidden but Obi-Wan, who’s watching the entire argument with his arms folded across his chest, can feel his amusement.

“Stuck up?!” Bastila seethes and storms up to Arin. “I’ll have you know that I’m not being stuck up! Now take it back.”

“Nope.” Arin brushes past Bastila who scowls, eye twitching with irritation. “Oh and you should get control of that irritation of yours, Princess. It’s not befitting of a Jedi.”

Bastila scowls before taking a deep breath and releasing it, repeating the process several more times until she has calmed down enough.

Obi-Wan holds out an arm to stop Arin in his tracks. “That was not necessary, Arin,” he says.

“I’m only speaking the truth, Knight Kenobi,” Arin says.

“There was no need for it,” says Obi-Wan.

Arin huffs but nods. “Yes, Knight Kenobi,” he says and turns to Bastila. “Sorry for calling you uptight...and stuck-up.”

Bastila lets loose a breath. “Fine. I accept your apology,” she says and walks past Arin.

“Princess,” Arin says as he follows and snickers when Bastila sputters out a protest.

Obi-Wan sighs.

“Sorry about Arin. He always has to have the last word,” Alek says as he comes to Obi-Wan’s side.

“I suspected that was the case with that last remark.” Obi-Wan turns his head as Alek walks off after Arin, shouting at him to stop annoying Bastila. “And you can stop trying to hide your amusement, Anakin. I can feel it radiating off you.”

“Sorry, Master,” Anakin says and Obi-Wan can sense him attempting to gain control of his amusement. “Master, can I go and take a look at the engines to this ship?”

“Can I go with?” Jax asks.

“Don’t tinker with anything, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says. “But that will be fine. It’s a three day journey to our destination through hyperspace.”

“I won’t break the engines, Master,” Anakin deadpans.

Obi-Wan turns his head toward his padawan and gives him a faint amused smile. “I can never be too careful with you, Padawan,” he says.

Anakin huffs but walks off with a snickering Jax following him. Anakin swats Jax upside the head and Jax responds by nudging Anakin in the side and the two start bickering again as they walk.

Juhani shifts her feet uncomfortably.

Obi-Wan studies the Cathar for a long moment. She doesn’t seem to know what to do now. “Do you want to come with me to watch the launch?” he asks.

“Uh...sure, Knight Kenobi,” Juhani says and follows as Obi-Wan turns and leads the way down the corridor toward the bridge of the _Crucible._

_**. . .** _

Ilum.

A massive planet covered entirely in ice and snow with frigid winds that blow snow in every direction, Ilum can be seen as quite beautiful. Anakin personally thinks that the only thing that is beautiful about this planet is the waves of colorful lights that dominate the darkened sky. He shivers as he wraps his arms around himself. He has never liked the cold.

“This place doesn’t seem to be very hospitable,” Arin says as he rubs his hands together, his fur-lined hood covering his head.

“If it’s sacred to the Jedi, that doesn’t surprise me,” Alek says.

“All I can say is it’s cold, and I don’t like the cold,” Jax groans as shivers pass through his slim frame.

“You and me both,” Anakin says.

“Come,” Obi-Wan says and begins to lead the way across the wind and snow-ravaged land. Thankfully, the wind isn’t strong enough for them to have to fight their way through it and it isn’t long before they reach a massive cliff made entirely out of ice.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Bastila asks, frowning. “Doesn’t seem like we’re getting anywhere.”

“We are heading in the right direction,” Obi-Wan says from where he’s kneeling on the ground. He rises and turns around to face Anakin and the five younglings. “Hold out your hands and focus the Force. Only together can we open the doorway and enter.”

_Enter what?_

‘ _You will see._ ’

Anakin blinks as his master’s words echo in his head. He shivers but holds out his hand, closing his eyes and focusing. He reaches out with the Force, allowing it to flow through him. He can sense the five younglings doing the same around him as well as his master. He can hear the sound of ice shifting against ice and he opens his eyes, eyes wide upon seeing the entrance that appears beyond the sheet of ice.

Obi-Wan lowers his hand and looks up at the sky that is lightening up. “The sun’s risen so we must begin. Follow me,” he says and leads the way into the massive building.

“What is this place, Master?” Anakin asks as he moves to walk alongside his master.

“An ancient Jedi Temple, built into the ice caverns of Ilum,” says Obi-Wan.

Anakin gazes in awe at the Temple as seven of them walk past the doorway and down the hallway until they reach a massive chamber with statues of ancient Jedi encircling it. At the center of the chamber, seated cross-legged on a slab of ice, is Master Yoda.

“Master Yoda,” Bastila gasps as the six of them come to a stop in front of the ancient Jedi Master while Obi-Wan moves off to the side. She bows and elbows Arin, who’s at her side, when he doesn’t bow right away. Granted, Arin’s too busy gazing around the chamber with wide-eyes. He winces at the elbow, gives Bastila an irritated look but bows politely in greeting nonetheless. Alek, Juhani, Jax, and Anakin follow suit.

“The Force made physical, a Jedi is,” Yoda says. “Comes great responsibility with that, yes?”

Anakin and the five younglings nod.

“Protect others, how does a Jedi, hmm?” Yoda rises to his feet. He holds out his hand and his own lightsaber glides out of his robes before igniting. The green blade blazes to life as it twirls in midair while the younglings are mystified by it. “Build your lightsabers, you shall, yes, but first, harvest your crystal, each one of you must.”

“Our crystals?” Anakin echoes, glancing at Jax and the other younglings. It doesn’t surprise him that they know what Yoda is talking about. Arin and Alek are already talking about what they think their crystals will be while Bastila looks determined and Juhani is even starting to slowly let go of her nervousness.

“The heart of the lightsaber the crystal is,” Yoda says. “Focus is the Force from the Jedi it does.” He then reaches his hands up and Anakin watches in amazement as the giant crystal above starts to spin until it refracts the sunlight from the newly opened door. The rays of sunlight beams toward the massive doorway of ice that lay behind Yoda. The ice slowly begins to melt until it pours down the stairway like a river.

“If Jedi you wish to become then enter the Crystal Caves you must,” Yoda says, waving a hand toward the doorway. “Trust yourself, trust in each other, and succeed you will.”

Anakin takes a deep breath and moves toward the entrance to the Crystal Caves, aware of the other younglings moving after him.

“How do we know which crystal we’re supposed to pick?” Jax asks as he turns to face Yoda and Obi-Wan.

“Only you will know which one is yours,” Obi-Wan says. “Just remember, when you harvest your crystal, do not remain in those caves. When the sunlight ends, the door will freeze shut, leaving you trapped within.”

Anakin’s eyes widen.

Juhani trembles. “F...For how long?” she asks.

“For one rotation. Now hurry.”

Anakin swallows as he turns his gaze to the entrance. He takes a deep breath. _Okay, Anakin, you can do this. You have to do this to prove that you are worthy of being a Jedi and make Master Obi-Wan proud of you._ He takes another deep breath and makes his way into the crystal caves.

“So what now? How do we know which one is our crystal?” Jax asks.

“We should stick together,” Arin says, folding his arms across his chest and scanning the area with a small furrow of his brow. “Why does it feel like I’ve been here before?”

Alek raises an eyebrow. “You feeling all right over there, Arin? ‘Cause I’m positive you’ve never been here before,” he says.

“Yeah, true. Still, we should stay together.”

Bastila scoffs. “I don’t need any of your help. I can find my crystal just fine on my own. Unlike you, I am actually capable of acting like a Jedi after all,” she says before she turns and strides off down a corridor.

“W...Wait, Bastila,” Juhani protests and hurries after her.

“Should we go after her?” Jax asks.

Arin shakes his head. “She’s chosen to go in that direction for some reason. Maybe the Force is telling her that her crystal is in that direction. As for me, I feel like I need to keep going straight.”

“Same here,” Alek says.

Jax frowns and hums. “I’m getting the same sense,” he says.

Anakin nods in agreement.

The four of them walk on until they reach a three way intersection.

“Okay, now where do we go?” Alek asks, a scowl twisting his lips. “At this rate, we’re never gonna find our crystals.”

“What is with this place? Why is it so...familiar?” Arin murmurs, one hand going to his head. “My head...”

“Arin?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Arin assures his friend.

Anakin glances at the brunet, who still has his hand resting on his head. It doesn’t seem like Arin is as fine as he says he is. There is a sense of confusion radiating off him that is also reflected in his eyes, though his voice remains steady as he suggests that they all let the Force guide them down which path to take.

 _Seems as good an idea as any._ Anakin decides that if Arin says he’s fine then he probably isn’t about to admit that he’s anything but fine. He may have only known Arin for three days but he had come to learn in that time that Arin is incredibly stubborn.

_Actually, I’m pretty sure everyone in this group, except Jax and Juhani, are stubborn._

Pushing that thought aside, Anakin closes his eyes and reaches out with the Force. He raises his hand and feels the Force flow through him, guiding him to where he is supposed to go. He opens his eyes to find that his hand is pointing to the tunnel heading to the left. He glances at the rest of the group. Jax and Alek are both pointing straight ahead while Arin is pointing to the tunnel on the right.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t know if we should split up like this. Are we even sure that we’ll find our crystals like this?” Jax says with some skepticism in his voice.

“If it gets us out of here quicker, I’m fine with using this idea,” Alek says with a shrug and strides forward. “Meet you guys outside.” He vanishes down the tunnel.

Jax sighs and waves a hand at Anakin. “See you later, Anakin,” he says and follows Alek.

Anakin glances at Arin who’s studying the tunnel that he’d pointed to. “Are you all right?” he asks.

“Huh?” Arin blinks and shakes his head, glancing at Anakin who frowns in concern since Arin seemed to have spaced out for a moment there. “I’m fine.” he turns his head and walks off, vanishing into his tunnel.

Anakin watches him go in concern before he sighs and, deciding that he won’t be able to help Arin if he doesn’t think he needs help, he turns and walks down his own tunnel.

**. . .**

The winding tunnel that Bastila Shan had run down is lined with nothing but glistening ice. There aren’t any signs of crystals anywhere and Bastila huffs, folding her arms across her chest as she comes to a stop at the heart of a small chamber. She takes a deep breath and releases it, reaching out with the Force in the hope that it will guide her toward her crystal.

She should be able to find it easy enough. Unlike the others, who still act like they’re children, she is mature for her age and she acts more like a Jedi than the others. That, alone, should allow her to find her crystal first.

Confident, she starts walking again, making her way down the tunnel that lays across from her. There isn’t any sign of any crystals in the walls or on the ground or in the slender columns that hold up the ceiling of the caves. Stalactites dangle from the ceiling while stalagmites rise up from the floor with spaces between them. The ones that join together are the slim columns that are still just as void of crystals as the stalactites and stalagmites.

She huffs but keeps moving, folding her arms across her chest. She knows that her crystal is around here somewhere, she can feel it. Now she just has to find it.

She makes her way into another chamber, this one far larger than the last one that she had been in, and narrows her eyes upon seeing the massive chasm that lay beyond. There are several pillars that lay across the chasm and she frowns because she notices that they are close enough that she can probably jump from one to another. At the center of the chasm is a larger pillar at the center of which is a stalagmite and a stalactite with a space between the two. Dangling from the stalactite, and glittering, is a crystal.

 _That has to be mine,_ Bastila thinks.

She moves to the edge of the ledge and peers down. She can’t see the bottom of the chasm but that’s fine. She’s sure that she can make the jumps and she will just have to use the Force to steady herself so she doesn’t slip. She will do this. It’s not like it’ll be that much of a challenge.

She takes a running start and jumps, landing on one of the pillars.

The pillar shudders and Bastila gasps and quickly crouches down. The pillar stops shuddering and Bastila waits a few extra moments until she’s sure she can stand up without causing the pillar to shudder again. Once she’s sure, she rises to her feet and launches herself onto the next pillar, crouching down when it shudders on her as well.

Thankfully, the pillars are wide enough that she’s able to crouch down without risking slipping off. The ice also isn’t that thick so she knows that she won’t slip.

She rises to her feet and jumps onto the next pillar, crouching down when it shudders. Once it stops shaking, she rises and jumps to the next one, repeating the process until she’s more than halfway to the pillar at the center of the chamber. She jumps onto another pillar and yelps when she slips. She lands hard on her backside and it’s only her quick reflexes in flipping and hugging the top of the pillar that keeps her from falling off.

She grits her teeth as she hugs the pillar tightly. _That...That was close._

That had been way too close.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out, repeating the process while attempting to figure out how to get out of the predicament her overconfidence had just gotten her into.

**. . .**

Alek Scrimigar makes his way down the tunnel, his arms folded across his chest as he scans the area. There are no signs of any crystals anywhere and he feel like he’s been wondering these tunnels for hours, though it hasn’t been that long at all. It’s starting to get annoying with how many columns and ice walls and stalactites that he’s passed to the point where it feels like he’s walking in circles.

When he finally steps out into a large chamber, he’s more than grateful to see something more than just columns and ice walls and stalagmites and stalactites.

He isn’t expecting the massive lake that stretches almost the entire length of the chamber with various pieces of frozen ice laying scattered upon the lake. At the center of the frigid lake is a small island of ice with a stalagmite growing out of the center and Alek can see something glittering at the peak of the stalagmite.

“Is that…?” Alek doesn’t know if it is or not but it’s worth checking out.

He jogs to the edge of the platform of ice and frowns. He kneels down and reaches out a hand, pushing against the nearest piece of ice. It immediately dips under the water and Alek hisses because the water is so cold that it actually burns. That kind of water is not one that he wants to end up in.

But how is he supposed to get across that lake to get his crystal? It’s right there. He’s positive that the glittering crystal is his but he needs to find away across that lake.

He scowls as he glare sat the water. He doesn’t have time for this. He needs to get that crystal and get out of that chamber before he gets trapped in there. He doesn’t know how long a rotation on Ilum is but he has this odd feeling it’s not a normal day like on other worlds.

He has to agree with Pavan and the Padawan Skywalker. He really doesn’t like the cold either.

He shivers and frowns when he notices that the sunlight is starting to drift away from the ice where he’s crouched. As it does so, he notices that the platform is starting to lengthen as if the lack of sunlight is causing the lake to start to freeze over.

He glances at the position of the sun and then at the lake.

“It’s freezing,” he murmurs to himself and he realizes what’s happening. If the lake freezes over then he will be able to make his way across it and grab his crystal.

But that will also mean that he will have very little time to get out of the crystal caves before the doorway freezes shut.

He scowls but he knows that there really isn’t anything more that he can do but wait.

He rubs a hand through his thick black hair and gazes at the lake and then at the crystal. “Just...wait...” he murmurs and sits back on his heels, resting his hands on his legs. “Just...wait...” He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, ignoring the frosty white that escapes his lips. He repeats the process as he meditates, and waits.

**. . .**

The tunnels are still winding, a confusing labyrinth that is absolutely impossible to navigate. Jax Pavan is pretty sure that he’s passed that column at least twice by now. He doesn’t even know where Alek had gone, even though Alek had only been a few meters in front of him. He supposes that Alek turned in a different direction when he reached that intersection a while back.

But there’s still no signs of any crystals.

Jax folds his arms across his chest. “Just come in here and find your crystal. Easy. Right.” He sighs, his breathe coming out a frosty white. It’s so cold in here and Jax wonders if there are even crystals in this place. It certainly doesn’t seem like it but Master Yoda said that there are crystals in here and that he will know which one is his when he finds it.

Jax shakes his head. “Guess I just keep walking and hope I run into a crystal or something,” he mutters and starts walking again, meandering his way around a column and stepping into a large chamber.

He blinks and groans upon noticing that, while the chamber that he had just entered does indeed prove that Master Yoda is right and there _are_ crystals in the caves, there are so many and all of them seem encased in ice. If any of these crystals are his then doesn’t that mean that they should be easy for him to access?

He folds his arms across his chest as he scans the various crystals. “Maybe I can cut them out with something, like a stone or something.” He turns and wanders the chamber, looking for a stone that might be sharp enough to hack into the columns of ice.

There aren’t any.

“Okay, that plan isn’t gonna work. Okay, think Jax. There has to be a way to get those crystals out of the column. Maybe I should head back but no that will cost me too much time. Oh, maybe there’s something in my pack.” Jax kneels down and, resting his pack on the ground, begins to sort through it.

“Datapad? No. Extra cloak? No. Ration bar? No. Mug? Why do I even have a mug in here?” Jax throws the mug over his shoulder and goes back to searching. He has to get that crystal out of there.

He shivers. It feels like it’s getting colder and maybe even a little darker. The light from the crystals in the ice seem to be going dimmer and he doesn’t like it. He swallows, concern going through him and he gazes around.

_No, there’s no one there. It’s just nerves._

He goes back to looking through his bag, a bit more frantic than before. He can’t help but feel anxious. He needs to find his crystal and get out of there.

But he’s not finding anything that he can use to break through the ice.

He groans and sits back, drawing his knees to his chest. “C’mon, Jax, think, think. You have to find a way to get your crystal. Think!” he murmurs to himself frantically, anxiety causing his mind to think of every possible way to break out of the ice, even though most of those ideas aren’t possible.

“Maybe I can use the datapad to break the ice? No. I’ll probably just bust it up. The ice seems like it’s really strong. Okay. What about melting the ice by making it really warm with the cloak? No. That’ll take way too long.”

He continues to mutter to himself, his mind attempting to come up with a way to get the crystal out of the ice while his brown eyes flicker from one column to the next as more and more crystals grow dimmer.

**. . .**

Juhani Kuhn jumps when she hears a sharp sound behind her. She whirls around but relaxes a moment later upon seeing nothing. It’s dark but not dark enough for her to not see where she’s going. She’s glad for that. She may not be afraid of the dark but that doesn’t mean that she likes it. It’s unsettling to say the least.

She’s been wandering around the caverns for what feels like hours, though she’s sure that it hasn’t been that long. She knows that she still has time but she isn’t sure if she can find her crystal before time ran out. Everywhere she walks, she just sees ice and stone. Just that. No crystals and no indication of where the crystals are if there are any.

She frowns to herself, wrapping her arms around her chest. “Can I not see the crystals because I picked the wrong path to go down?” She shakes her head and starts walking again, unwrapping her arms.

She doesn’t know if she picked the right path or not after following Bastila but there’s no turning back now. She isn’t even sure of which way she is supposed to go if she wants to head back the way she had come. All she can do is keep moving forward and hope that she hadn’t been wrong in her decision. After all, she had run after Bastila because she hadn’t wanted to search for her crystal alone, and hoping that maybe some of Bastila’s confidence would help her.

But now she’s all alone and she doesn’t have Bastila to help her.

_Am I even capable of doing this on my own?_

Having been brought to the Jedi Order when she was too young to even remember her parents, Juhani had spent her younger years in the shadows of the younglings her age, or younger, who happened to be better than her at everything. Especially Bastila. Bastila has always been so confident from the moment Juhani met her and she wishes that she can have even a sliver of Bastila’s confidence.

But she doesn’t.

She wishes that she can have Bastila’s help right now though.

Bastila would know what to do. She always seems to know what to do. It’s what makes her a better Initiate than Juhani.

She walks into a chamber that’s devoid of everything, even columns, and she gazes around. Her catlike eyes wide because she is now positive that she’s going the wrong way. She turns and immediately heads back the way she had come but, after reentering the chamber that she had just left, she finds that she isn’t sure of which way she had come from.

There are three tunnels in front of her.

She’s pretty sure that she came from the middle one but isn’t positive.

She glances between the three tunnels. Which one is she supposed to take to go back the way she had come? She just wants to find Bastila, or any of the others since she’s sure that they’ve probably already found their crystals and they can help her find hers.

The small eleven-year-old Cathar continues to glance back and forth between the three tunnels, chewing on her lower lip and wincing when her sharp teeth nearly pierce through the skin of her lip. She wrings her hands together, conflicted as she tries to figure out which way she’s supposed to go to find her crystal, or even just get back to the entrance to the caves.

_What do I do? What do I do? What would Bastila do? Or any of the others?_

As she asks those questions, she realizes that she really doesn’t know the other younglings well enough to accurately figure out how they would respond to this situation. And that doesn’t help her at all.

They can’t help her.

She’s going to be stuck in this place forever if she can’t figure out what to do on her own.

Master Yoda’s words echo in her head once again. _Trust in the Force, and in each other._

Even though she can’t exactly trust in the others when they are nowhere near where she is, she realizes that she should be able to trust in the Force. That’s what the Jedi do. They trust in the Force. She is training to be a Jedi so she should be able to trust in the Force.

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, reaching out a hand as she reaches out with the Force. She feels it flow through her until her hand moves on its own. She opens her eyes to see that her hand is pointing at the center tunnel, the very tunnel that she had thought was the one that she had used to reach that area.

She lowers her hand, biting her lip.

 _No,_ she thinks. _I told myself that I would trust in the Force and that’s what I’m going to do._ She takes a deep breath and slowly makes her way down the middle tunnel.

**. . .**

Anakin makes his way down the tunnel that he had chosen to walk down. He scans the area, his brow furrowing as he reaches out with the Force, allowing it to guide him. Master Yoda did say to trust in the Force so he’s allowing it to guide him through these tunnels. It flows around him, carrying him along like a current, and he follows.

The tunnels continue to twist and turn. Various stalactites and stalagmites line the tunnels that he walks down, or fills the chambers that he passes by, and many more columns hold up the roof of the various chambers that he walks through. There are still no sign of any crystals though but Anakin is sure that he’s heading in the right direction. At least, that’s what it feels like and Master Obi-Wan did tell him to trust his instincts.

He will find his crystal and make his master proud of him.

It gets colder the deeper into the caves that Anakin goes and he huffs. He really can’t stand the cold. “It’s better than heat though,” he muses out loud, his breathe coming out frosty white. He may not like the cold but it’s better than Tatooine.

But, then, he likes sand and heat even less.

He shakes that thought aside as he rounds a corner and yelps when he nearly steps of a ledge into nothingness. He steps back and frowns at the giant chasm that stretches as far as the eye can see, though there are various pillars that jut out of the chasm and a ledge that encircles the massive chamber.

At the far end of the chamber is a lone wide island of stone on which is a single stalactite at the top of which something glitters.

Anakin narrows his eyes, trying to peer through the darkness to see if the glittering item is a crystal.

He’s too far away though.

_I’ll just get closer then._

He takes a running start and launches himself onto the nearest pillar. It wobbles under his feet but he simply pushes off from it and launches himself to another pillar, using the Force to augment his jump as his master had taught him during the training sessions they’ve had in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

He continues to jump from one pillar to the next, eyes locked on the glittering item, and stumbles when the pillar he lands wobbles violently, nearly throwing him off it. He crouches down, clutching at the edges of the pillar, wincing as the cold ice digs into his skin.

Once the pillar stops wobbling, he jumps onto another one and the another one until he reaches the stone island. He jumps onto the island and approaches the stalactite, reaching for the glittering item.

He frowns when his finger enclose over nothing but ice. He feels it melt in his hands.

_Well, that’s a bust. Okay. Time to try another path._

He turns and blinks, eyes widening upon seeing the pillars that he had used to reach the stone island crumbling.

He hadn’t realized how weak and narrow those pillars had been. Since he hadn’t been on any of them for that long, he hadn’t noticed until now that his weight was too much for those pillars to handle. It seems that as soon as he landed on the pillar, and launched off it, the pillar started to collapse.

He groans upon realizing that he now has no way to get to the other end of the chamber.

A scowl twists his lips. He hadn’t been thinking, he realizes as he runs a hand through darkening blonde hair. He takes a deep breath, releasing his irritation into the Force. His rashness had gotten him into this situation. Now he needs to figure out how he’s supposed to get out of this mess.

He scans the area until his eyes land on the ledge that juts out from the wall. He recalls that he had noticed the ledge when he first entered this chamber. And it’s close enough that he can just step onto it from the stone island.

He smacks his hand to his forehead as he realizes that he could have just walked around the chamber on the ledge rather than jump onto the pillars.

 _Well, can’t change what’s happened. Guess I’ll use the ledge to get back,_ he thinks as he makes his way around the stalactite and steps onto the edge, far more cautiously than when he’d jumped onto that first pillar earlier.

**. . .**

Arin isn’t sure why his head is throbbing, or why this places feels so familiar, or why those flashes that he has been having ever since as far back as he can remember—which, given his photographic memory, is really far back—are far more vivid than ever before. It feels like he’s walked these caverns before, it feels like he’s felt the same feelings of confidence that he is feeling now.

He can almost picture himself stepping into a chamber to join a boy that looks identical to Alek and a girl that, for some odd reason, he knows the name of.

Meetra…

He doesn’t know why that name sounds familiar. He’s never met anyone with that name before. There’s certainly no one in the Jedi Creche with that name, and he knows everyone’s names so he should know that.

He winces as he comes to a stop in a chamber, one hand resting on the wall beside him while the other rests on his head. Even though he had told the other younglings that he’s fine, he knows that he isn’t.

The flashes, he’s used to. The vivid visions, he’s used to.

The pain, he is not used to.

He has never experienced a massive headache whenever he sees those flashes, or the longer visions.

He wonders if it has anything to do with how strong the Force is in this place. But that still doesn’t explain why what he is seeing is conflicting with what he knows to be true. The people he’s seeing in those flashes conflicts with the people who are actually on Ilum right now. It’s getting to the point where Arin is having a hard time differentiating between vision and reality.

He forces himself to keep moving, one hand still resting on his throbbing head. His mind is in chaos as conflicting images continue to flash in front of his eyes as he makes his way deeper into the caves.

The caves seem bigger. There are crystals everywhere. He is sure that Alek is moving right alongside him but, when he looks, Alek isn’t there.

His senses are off, he realizes. He can’t even sense Alek’s presence anywhere close now, even though he had sensed it moments earlier.

Or, maybe, it’s because of that flash.

He stumbles into another tunnel and takes a deep breath before releasing it as he rests his hand on the wall of ice next to him. He winces as the cold seeps into his skin through his gloves and removes his hand.

He keeps walking, trying to push aside the flashes that are still playing in front of his eyes. It’s never been this bad before, even when he’s asleep. He usually doesn’t get as distracted by the flashes back at the Temple as he is now, even when he’s asleep.

But this is different. It feels different.

The Force feels different.

He shivers as a sense of cold washes over him, and he is positive it has nothing to do with the crystal caverns.

The cold doesn’t feel like ice. It feels like _the dark side_.

And yet it seems to caress him like an old friend.

_Old soul…_

The words echo around Arin and he whirls around. “Who’s there?” he calls.

No one answers him. His voice echoes around him in the massive chamber that he’s standing at the edge of.

He suddenly feels warmth as well, caressing him gently like an old friend. It feels like sunlight bathing his skin. It feels like the _light side._

He can feel both darkness and light brushing against him. Cold darkness and warm light. The dark side and the light side.

_Old soul…_

He shakes his head and pushes those words out of his mind. Even though the pain in his head is starting to ease a little bit, he still can’t begin to understand the contradiction that he feels around him.

No, it’s not a contradiction.

The dark and the light aren’t clashing with each other. They feel like they’re _in harmony_ with each other.

And when they brush against Arin, they feel equal, harmonious, _pure._

_“_ _In the end, you_ _belong to neither the light nor the dark_ _ness_ _. You will forever_ _stand_ _alone.”_

Arin shakes his head again, not sure where those sudden words come from, or why they sound so familiar as if he has heard them before.

He continues walking. He can still feel the harmonious, pure energies that surround him as he makes his way deeper into the caverns of Ilum. His eyes scan the area as he takes a deep breath, releasing it, and repeating the process.

The pain in his head is easing and he hums to himself as he thinks about what to do now. There are no crystals in this area so he’ll just have to look in a different area.

And yet he can still feel the pull of the Force. That odd harmony of light and darkness is pulling him forward, rather than back the way he had come.

He debates with himself. On one hand, he has always trusted in the Force and the Force is what is guiding him forward but, on the other hand, he can sense that if he continues to move forward, he’ll likely experience more flashes, and that will cause his mind to become far more conflicted than it already is due to the fact that he is still having trouble differentiating reality from his flashes, which aren’t real.

_Old soul…_

He doesn’t know why those words continue to echo in his head. Why is the Force whispering those words around him? It seems as if the Force itself is trying to tell him something but he can’t seem to figure out what.

 _I’ll worry about that later. I’ve always trusted in the Force ever since I started training so that’s what I will do. Even if it means more conflict, I’m sure the Force will guide me right._ He takes a deep breath and starts forward once again, holding his head high even as the harmonious energy surges around him and the conflicting flashes continue to flash in front of his eyes.

**. . .**

Bastila lifts her head. Her arms are starting to fall numb from how long they had been pressed against the ice pillar that she’s laying on top of and currently hugging. It’s a wonder that her arms hadn’t frozen to the pillar. She slowly pulls herself onto the pillar with her nearly numb arms until she’s sitting on the pillar with her legs dangling down the side of it.

Her gaze goes to the platform on which she can still see her crystal glittering.

She lets loose a breath, that comes out a frosty white, and shivers, wrapping her nearly numb arms around herself. Her journey across the pillars had nearly gotten her thought but she had gotten so overconfident in her ability to jump from one pillar to the next with the Force aiding her that she had miscalculated how wide the pillar she is currently sitting on had been, and how icy it had been.

She peers at the remaining pillars. In her arrogance, she hadn’t thought before jumping, and that had cost her time, and nearly all feeling in her arms. She is sure that she is going to get sick because of how cold she is right now but that had been the price of her arrogance.

She may be training to be a Jedi but she isn’t a Jedi yet, and she shouldn’t have acted like she is one. She may have called the others children because of how they acted but she, herself, is still a child too.

_I’m not an adult. I shouldn’t be acting like one._

She takes a deep breath and reaches out with the Force, searching for her center as she slips into a meditative trance in the hope that it will help her to clear her head and help her to figure out what to do next.

She will trust in the Force, just as she should have done from the beginning instead of trusting her own skills when, in truth, her skills aren’t perfect. She’s still learning and she shouldn’t have automatically thought that she was better than the others just because she acts more mature than them. She is still an Initiate and her skills are not perfect in spite of her earlier confidence that she now knows is mere arrogance.

Trust in the Force.

That is what Master Yoda told her.

And that is what she will do.

The Force will guide her to her goal, if only she will allow it to.

She takes a deep breath, reaching into herself to find her center. Once she can feel the calmness flowing over her, she opens her eyes and crouches down. She jumps, landing lightly at the center of the pillar in front of her. She straightens and, taking another deep breath, she jumps again and again until she reaches the island on which she can see her crystal.

She jumps onto the island and moves over to the stalactite, reaching up a hand and pinching the crystal. She removes it from the stalactite, a soft smile on her lips as she gazes at the yellow crystal.

She tucks it away and scans the area. Going back the way she had gone is going to take too long, and it’ll probably be more dangerous too, but there must be another way.

Her eyes land on an archway that’s in the wall a few feet from her. She takes a deep breath and jogs toward the edge of the island, launching herself off the island and landing in the archway. She grabs the iced wall to keep her balance. Once she’s steady, she makes her way down the corridor.

She shivers, wrapping her arms around herself. She can’t really feel her arms that well. They’re so cold that it’s difficult to move them, as is the rest of her body. The cold had seeped through her jacket into the rest of her body, though her arms had gotten the worst of it, since those were the only part of her body not covered by another layer of clothing.

She can feel her teeth chattering as she struggles to make her way down the icy corridor. Her breath comes out in frosty white puffs and she wraps her arms tighter around herself as she stumbles down the corridor.

She doesn’t know how long she had been walking when she hears a _crack,_ and the ground gives way beneath her.

She screams as she plunges down a slope, sending tumbling head over heels until she crashes into a wall of ice at the far end of a large chamber. She winces, her head throbbing where it struck the wall and scrambles to her feet. She sneezes and wipes her nose as she scans the chamber, searching for the way out of it.

There’s only one way that isn’t the slope that she had just gone rolling down.

 _Well, it’s my only shot. Should get outta here before I freeze. I don’t even know how much time I have left,_ she thinks as she runs toward the archway leading into another tunnel. Running should help to warm her up a bit too.

She winces when she slips on a thick patch of ice and crashes through a thin wall of ice next to her, sending her tumbling to the ground again. She lifts her head as the wall crumbles in front of her, trapping her in the small chamber with only a small tunnel that she isn’t sure she will fit through leading away from it.

And she’s getting colder by the second.

She groans.

Today is just not her day.

**. . .**

Alek lets loose a breath and opens his eyes.

His entire body is relaxed and, though the cold is slowly seeping past his thick pants and jacket into his skin, it isn’t enough to bother him. The lack of light in the chamber tells him that the sun is likely very close to finishing setting, which means that the lake should be frozen over by now.

Alek’s blue eyes go to the lake and he smiles upon seeing that the vast majority of the lake is now frozen over. Even if the frozen lake doesn’t reach all the way to the island at its center, it’s enough for him to jump the remaining half a foot to the island. That should leave him with enough time to get out of the caverns before the door freezes over completely.

Getting to his feet, Alek edges his way forward, resting his foot on the ice and pressing his full weight onto it. That way if it cracks then he will have enough time to get back to safer grounds.

But the ice holds his weight.

He is careful though as he makes his way across the frozen lake. Though the ice cracks in some places as he walks across it, it doesn’t break and he’s able to make it to the edge of the frozen parts of the lake without much incident. With a smile, he launches himself off the edge of the lake and lands lightly on the island.

He makes his way over to the stalactite and reaches out a hand, gently grasping the crystal that rests at its pinnacle and removes it. The green crystal glitters in his hand and he smiles before turning and quickly making his way back the way he had come. The lake had completely frozen over by this time so he knows that he is running out of time.

**. . .**

Jax groans, rubbing his head in frustration and gazes around. He knows he’s running out of time but he doesn’t know what to do. He’s sure his crystal is in that cavern, frozen within those columns of ice, but he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to break through them. He doesn’t have a weapon on his hand and nothing in his pack will help him.

_C’mon, Jax, think. There’s gotta be a way for you to break those columns of ice._

But the more Jax thinks about it, the more he can’t figure out anything that will be useful. There’s nothing in the cavern that he can use, and nothing in his pack, and he’s running short on time.

Not to mention that the more crystals that go dim, the colder it seems to get.

He shivers, wrapping his arms around himself. _We’re supposed to go into these caverns to find our crystals so it shouldn’t be this difficult to retrieve them so what am I doing wrong?_

Yoda’s words echo in his head again.

_Trust in the Force…_

Jax takes a deep breath and releases it, reaching out with the Force. He may only be ten years old but he has been training at the Temple for years now and one of the first lessons that he had been taught had been to always trust in the Force. The Force will guide him, and he realizes that he should have done that from the very beginning.

His eyes flutter open and he blinks upon noticing that he had used the Force to call one of the items he had scattered around him to his hand.

The mug is resting in his hand.

Jax eyes the mug and then glances at the column in which he can see his crystal glittering. He turns his gaze back to the mug and, rising to his feet, moves over to the column and promptly smashes the mug into it.

Though the mug doesn’t break, the ice does, shattering and raining pieces of ice to the ground. The crystal remains where it’s perched at the center of the column, still glittering in spite of the darkness that surrounds it.

Jax glances at the mug and realizes what happened. He’d been so focused on finding a weapon of sorts to use on the ice, had panicked upon realizing that he hadn’t had one, that he hadn’t realized that he did have a weapon, just not a conventional one. While he still doesn’t know why he had a mug in his bag to begin with, it had still worked for him.

And it had only taken him relaxing himself and meditating, finding his center and releasing his earlier anxiety into the Force, to reach that conclusion.

He smiles and, tucking the mug back into his bag, he reaches out a hand and grasps the blue crystal, pulling it free.

 _Now, time to get outta here. I don’t even know how much time I’ve got left,_ he thinks as he turns and bolts back the way he had come.

**. . .**

Juhani frowns upon coming to a three way intersection.

She turns her catlike blue eyes from one tunnel to the next. She isn’t sure of which way that she’s supposed to go, and she’s sure that she doesn’t have much time left. She may not have any idea of how long she’s been in those caverns but she’s sure that it’s been a while. She has to find her crystal and get out of there.

_But how?_

“Trust in the Force, Juhani,” she whispers and, closing her eyes, stretches out a hand while reaching out with the Force.

She has to trust in the Force to guide her to the right location, but she realizes that she also has to trust in herself. She had doubted herself earlier and yet the Force had guided her to the very same direction that she would have originally gone had she just trusted her own instincts.

She lowers her hand as that realization comes to her. She had trusted the Force but she should also be trusting her own instincts as well. She already knows that she can’t rely on others to help her in these situations but that also means that she needs to rely on herself more.

“Trust in the Force, and in your own instincts,” she murmurs to herself.

She takes a deep breath and scans the three tunnels, pressing her lips together. Her gut is telling her that she needs to head right. She turns toward the right tunnel. “If my gut is saying this direction than that’s the direction that I will go in,” she says to herself and jogs toward the right tunnel, making her way down it until she reaches another chamber. This one is far smaller than the last one that she had been in, but still wider than the tunnel, and she notices that there is a single crystal resting at the pinnacle of a stalagmite at the far end of the small chamber.

She smiles and jogs toward it, reaching out a hand and gently grasping the blue crystal in her hand. She turns and, spotting the tunnel that lays next to the stalactite, she darts down it. She isn’t sure if it will take her to the entrance to the caverns but she is confident in her decision so she will follow through with it.

**. . .**

Anakin stops edging his way along the edge of the chamber when tiny pieces of ice crumble away from the spot he had just stepped on. The ledge is still wide enough for him to walk over it but he slows down, carefully placing one foot in front of the other while hugging the ice wall to ensure that no more pieces of the ledge crumble away.

He’s almost at the entrance to the large chamber. Only a few more meters to go.

He yelps when the wall suddenly gives away against his weight and he tumbles to nearly faceplant the ice-covered floor. He barely manages to stretch out his hands to catch himself before that happens though. He huffs and lifts his head, eyes brightening upon seeing the stalactite that dangles from the ceiling in the small chamber and the glittering blue crystal that dangles from its edge.

Scrambling to his feet, he edges forward cautiously, not wanting to accidentally trigger another trap or break through the ice or anything like that. Once he reaches the stalactite, he stretches out a hand and gently removes the blue crystal from it. He smiles as he studies the crystal before he closes his fingers over it and makes his way back to the ledge.

Stepping onto the ledge, he slowly begins to edge his way around the chamber again, hugging the wall closely until he reaches the entrance to the chamber. He steps onto the ledge and makes his way swiftly down the corridor that he had used to reach that chamber. He scans the area with the Force and bolts down the tunnel that he is sure will take him to the entrance to the caverns.

He bolts around a corner.

“Is anyone out there?”

He skids to a halt upon hearing the shout and whirls around. He recognizes that voice. “Bastila?” he calls.

“Padawan Skywalker?” Bastila’s voice calls, sounding close to where Anakin is standing.

“You can call me Anakin,” he calls back. He reaches out with the Force to determine where Bastila might be and darts in the direction that he can sense another’s presence. It’s just around the next bend.

He bolts around the next bend and frowns upon seeing that he’s at a dead end. “Bastila?” he calls.

“Over here!”

He turns to see Bastila pressed up against a wall of ice and moves toward it. “Are you okay?” he asks as he kneels down in front of the ice.

“No,” Bastila says, move away from the ice and wrapping her arms around herself, shivers wracking her form. “I’m cold...”

Anakin rests his hands on the ice and focuses the Force. He releases it and the ice wall cracks before shattering, raining ice tears to the ground. He stretches out a hand toward Bastila who slowly takes it and crawls out of the small chamber. He can tell that she really is cold, far colder than she should be given that she is wearing layers.  _Just how long had she been in there?_

He shakes his head as he shrugs off his jacket and gently drapes it over Bastila’s form.

“But won’t you get cold quickly without this?” Bastila protests.

“I’ll be fine until we get out of here. Your lips are starting to turn blue, Bastila. That’s not a good sign,” Anakin says, ignoring the goosebumps that rise on his arms and the cold shivers that run through his form.

Bastila frowns but rises to her feet and, to Anakin’s surprise, she shakily wraps her arms around his waist. “We’ll stay...we’ll stay close,” she says. “We can...We can keep each other warm that way.”

Anakin blinks but nods. “All right,” he says and wraps his arm around Bastila’s shoulders. Turning, the two of them begin to make their way back the way Anakin had come before moving down the corridor that Anakin is sure will take them to the entrance to the caverns.

**. . .**

Arin stops upon reaching a large chamber that is completely devoid of anything. It’s filled with darkness, stretching as far as the eye can see. There’s no way of telling how big the chamber actually is but, as he takes a step forward, he’s grateful that there isn’t a chasm in front of him.

He can still feel the Force swirling around him.

The cool darkness. The warm light.

It swirls and dances in harmony around him.

He doesn’t understand it.

He rubs his temples as he makes his way deeper into the chamber. He’ll just keep walking. He’s sure that the Force will guide him to the correct location to find his crystal.

_“I know I can beat this challenge.”_

_“You’re very sure of yourself, arrogant even. Has no one ever taught you humility?”_

Arin hums to himself. Those words...They feel like they had been spoken by him and to him and yet he doesn’t recall anyone ever saying anything like that to him. Sure, Master Rahn and Master Ali-Alann have told him that they are concerned about his arrogance but never did they phrase their statement like that.

And he can almost see an older woman with white hair standing at his side, saying those exact words to him.

But when he looks, there’s no one there.

_Of course there’s no one there. It’s just a flash._ Arin shakes his head. He can’t allow those flashes to get in the way of this challenge.

He’s running out of time. He needs to find his crystal and get out of these caverns before the doorway freezes over.

_“The door is simply ice. The only thing that will keep you trapped in those caverns is your own doubt and fear.”_

Arin frowns. Those words...They are spoken, again, from that old white-haired woman, and spoken in such a way that it feels as if that old woman has spoken them to him before.

He grits his teeth but keeps moving. The flashes are getting more and more vivid, and common, the further into the crystal caves that he goes. They’re starting to blend together with each other, and with the reality of what is actually going on, and that’s only causing his throbbing head to throb even more painfully.

He reaches the edge of the darkness-filled cavern and rests his hand against the wall, wincing as the cold seeps through his glove. But that tells him that this is the here and now, this is what is actually happening, this is the reality.

He’s in the crystal caverns of Ilum, and there is no one else with him.

Those flashes are showing him with someone, or speaking with someone, but he is alone.

_Focus on that. You can balance the two, find harmony between reality and your flashes, whatever they may be,_ he thinks to himself and takes a deep breath, releasing it and repeating the process. He reaches out a hand and removes his glove, resting his bare hand against the cold, hissing at the cold burns into his skin but keeping his hand there.

The burning cold on his bare hand will serve to remind him of reality, since the flashes suggest that he hadn’t been feeling the burning cold of ice on his bare hand. At the same time, the lack of a physical presence at his side will remind him that he is alone. That will allow him to differentiate between flash and reality.

He moves onward, trying his hardest to ignore the burning cold that is currently causing his hand to turn numb.

It’s only when he makes his way into the next chamber that he removes his hand from the ice wall.

The chamber is empty, save for a stalagmite that rises from its center.

Standing at the pinnacle of the stalagmite is a long crystal.

Arin smiles and jogs toward the stalagmite, reaching out a hand and gently removing the purple crystal from the stalagmite. He turns it over in his hand, surprised when the crystal breaks cleanly down the middle, leaving behind two identical purple crystals that each glitter.

_Two crystals?_

_“So you want to dual wield?”_

_“I feel_ _more comfortable with two blades, Master.”_

_Dual wielding, huh?_ Arin tosses both crystals into the air and catches them, a smile crossing his lips. “That does feels right,” he murmurs to himself before he turns and darts back the way he had come, intent on getting out of the caverns as quickly as possibly.* (1)

**. . .**

Anakin and Bastila dart toward the archway that almost completely frozen over and dove forward. Anakin shoves Bastila with the Force to allow her to slide beneath the bottom of the ice while he quickly rolls past the bottom of the ice.

“Where’s Arin?” Alek asks.

Anakin stands and turns to find that Juhani, Alek, and Jax are there but they’re missing a youngling. “I don’t know. Bastila and I barely managed to make it in time,” he says as he turns his gaze back to the doorway.

He can feel Alek’s worry filter through the Force.

That is until, at the last second, Arin’s form comes barreling through the bottom part of the ice, shattering parts of it as he rolls away from the doorway. He huffs as he stands up, brushing pieces of ice off him. “That was close,” he says.

“You broke part of the door...” Alek says in surprise.

Arin gives him a surprised look. “It’s just ice,” he points out.

“A very good point that is, young Arin,” Yoda says as he moves forward and gestures with his gimer stick. Anakin, holding out a hand to Bastila who takes it and pulls herself to her feet, curls an arm around the shaking Bastila’s shoulder and guides her over to join the rest of the younglings. “Just ice, the doorway is.”

“You mean that we wouldn’t have been trapped for a full rotation if we didn’t make it back in time?” Jax asks.

“Trapped you would have been, but not by the doorway, rather by your own  mind, your own f ear or doubt,” says Yoda. He rests his gimer stick on the ground. “Get your crystals, did you?”

Anakin releases Bastila and pulls out his crystal to show to the wizened Jedi Master. He glances at the rest of the younglings, noticing that, while Jax’s and Juhani’s are both blue, Alek’s is green, Bastila’s is, surprisingly enough, yellow and Arin’s are, surprisingly enough,  _purple_ , and there are  _two_ of them.

“Why do you have two crystals, Arin?” Alek says in puzzlement.

“It broke in half when I grabbed it,” Arin says as he studies the crystal with a contemplative look in his eyes.

“Trust in you to  _break_ your crystal,” Alek says teasingly.

Arin rolls his eyes good-naturedly at his friend before he adds in a more serious tone, “No, I think...I wonder if this is a sign that I should be a dual wielder.”

“A dual wielder, you say?” Yoda says.

Arin’s fingers close around his crystals and nods. “ That feels right, Master Yoda,” he says.

Yoda hums. “Trusting in your instincts, you are, young Arin,” he says. “If a dual-wielder you believe yourself to be then listen to your instincts, you must. Guide you to that decision, the Force must have so listen to it you will. Learn to dual wield you must before use two lightsabers you will.”

He moves forward and gazes at the five younglings and Anakin. “ Lessons you have learned, yes?” he says and turns to Anakin. “Caution.” He turns to Bastila. “Humility.” He turns to Jax. “Serenity.” He turns to Juhani. “Confidence.” He turns to Alek. “Patience.” Finally, he turns to Arin. “And harmony. Yes? Take your crystals back to the Temple and keep them safe, young Jedi.”

The younglings cheers while Anakin smiles, turning his gaze to his crystal and turning it over in his hand.

He feels a hand rest on his shoulder and lifts his head to find Obi-Wan standing at his side, gazing down at him with pride in his eyes. He feels warmth go through him as his master inclines his head, the pride in his eyes rippling along their bond, and he smiles back at his master, his fingers once again closing over his crystal.

**. . .**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I'm not quite sure if this is a real thing, or if it's even possible, and it likely isn't but, since I can't see Revan as anything but a dual wielder, I will simply use this as a hint of who Arin Kando truly is (for everyone else but the audience of course).
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be my biggest project to date as it spans the prequel trilogy and beyond and combines the events of the prequel trilogy with the concept of the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game. It is going to be a complicated plot, and one that spans many MANY years and will basically be introducing a brand new (or perhaps old new if that makes any sense) enemy that will change everything.
> 
> As the tags have already stated, this story does include the reincarnation of KOTOR characters whom are named in the tags as well and this is my version of what I think would happen if that old new enemy was around and if KOTOR characters, reincarnated in this case, were in the Prequel Trilogy.
> 
> I really hope that you like the opening chapter and the rest of this story, one that I am enjoying so much, and reviews and kudos are much appreciated.


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